State investigating death of DeKalb County inmate; Sheriff says man attempted suicide in cell

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Image: MGN Online

State investigating death of DeKalb County inmate; Sheriff says man attempted suicide in cell

Image: MGN Online

FORT PAYNE, Ala. – DeKalb County Sheriff Jimmy Harris confirms there is an investigation into the recent death of an inmate. Kevin Daniel Hancock, 33, died Sunday, August 23.

Chief Jail Administrator Matt Martin reports that on Friday, August 21st there was an emergency call from inside a cell that Hancock had harmed himself. Jail staff responded and found Hancock unresponsive, Martin said. Staff performed CPR until the DeKalb Ambulance service arrived, and paramedics took Hancock to DeKalb Regional Hospital. Hancock was transferred to Huntsville Hospital on Saturday afternoon, but died Sunday.

“This is an unfortunate incident that has happened. We have trained our staff for incidents like this and make every effort to prevent these from happening,” said Martin.

Sheriff Harris said he contacted the State Bureau of Investigation as soon as he was notified about the situation. He said this is standard policy to notify them or another outside agency to investigate any incident of this nature that happens at the DeKalb County Detention Center.

“Hancock had not shown any signs to our staff of being suicidal, but he had mentioned harming himself to his cellmate which the cellmate never communicated this to the correctional staff,” Sheriff Harris said. “At this time no further details will be released until the investigation is complete.”